Those Left Behind
by Clement Rage
Summary: SOLDIER are a force to be reckoned with, but three years is a long time, and Deepground is not known for its hospitality.


**Those Left Behind**

 **Chapter 1: Loyalty**

Gaspar had always been aware of the possibility that he might die in defence of Shinra. It was part of the job. But he'd hoped for a more intelligent death than dying with his back to a steel door in the basement of the Shinra building, trying to keep Shinra's own pet army from escaping. He could see the need, the release of these… things at a time of such instability would all but ensure that the response to the end of the world would fail. He could see the need… but was far from happy to die here.

Fifty SOLDIERs had begun the holding action at the gates of hell. Ten at the rim, the rest in five strong flying columns running interference. When the charges blew, sealing the gates under hundreds of tonnes of steel and rock, thirty eight yet stood. A good two hundred of the denizens of the basement had fallen, and a fleet of attack helicopters had received a nasty surprise when the SOLDIER 1st in command summoned Bahamut and turned him loose (or maybe her, Gaspar was no expert on the gender signifiers of summoned dragons). Anyway, the beast had caused enough havoc that the inhabitants hadn't been able to launch a sustained attack, and the SOLDIER stand had held for over a day before the charges at the top of the shaft were detonated. The shock of the blast rattled the immediate attackers and the remaining enemy soldiers were cut apart, giving the remaining SOLDIERs a chance to take stock.

They'd managed to keep themselves alive quite well, but everyone's magic was almost exhausted, as were their curative items, and some SOLDIERs had moderately serious wounds. If there was another determined assault, more SOLDIERs would start dying.

It had been a strange battle. These creatures were more resilient than the average human, but were far more inclined to throw their lives away by charging into the teeth of the storm and trusting their enhancements to weather it. They weren't used to fighting those that could deal enough damage to render those tactics obsolete. But they had numbers on their side, and the SOLDIERs were slowly being whittled down.

Now, the SOLDIER first Commander snapped up a hand, and the remaining defenders picked themselves up. By now, they trusted his instincts. Someone was coming.

The blur of silver burst from their left. The SOLDIER 1st got his block up in time, but was knocked back to one knee, and the second swordpoint touched his throat. At which point things slowed down enough for everyone else to catch up, and realise that a white haired man with two swords had come from nowhere and defeated their best fighter.

"It's not every day someone blocks my first strike…" the newcomer said, with a ghost of a grin. "You are quite skilled. Now, how do we open the gate?"

"You can't…" the Commander said, with a ghost of a grin of his own. " That door is buried under stone by now, there's no way out for any of us." There was a stir from the SOLDIERs, not all of them had realised that. They should have…a mission as important as this, assigned only one SOLDIER first? Definitely a warning sign, in retrospect.

"No retrieval?" the strange silverhaired man said, surprised.

"Shinra never intends us to see the light of day again."

More denizens were gathering nearby, and this time they were massing for a serious assault. Gaspar saw RPGs, heavy machinery, snipers back the way. This time, If it came to an attack, SOLDIER would take many attackers with them, but they would fall. They were waiting for the grey man's command. But he stepped back, looking skyward.

"Brother?"

"Truth," said a voice from a shadow nobody had noticed, and a man with wings stepped out of a shadow far deeper than should exist even this far under the earth. Everyone within eyeshot was a seasoned veteran, but there were not a few shivers from both sides to look into its depths. "That door is well and truly sealed. I can get out, but nothing can come with me without being consumed, and even with mining equipment it would take me years to breach the seal. We are locked in."

"I see," the silver haired man said, sheathing one sword to stroke his jaw. "Well, that renders this conflict pointless. If only I had arrived sooner. Deepground, stand down."

"Hail, Weiss." The roar, from over a thousand throats, rattled the rooftops. The clatter of guns could have chilled the blood of President Shinra himself, had he been here to hear it.

The SOLDIERs did not move. After a moment, the SOLDIER 1st got to his feet. "So what happens to us?"

Weiss shrugged. "Do what you want. You don't matter anymore."

The SOLDIER blinked. "Are you sure about that? We haven't interacted long, but you don't seem like the merciful type."

Weiss laughed. "Mercy? Is that what you think this is? You will learn, soon enough, about the fate you condemned others to so easily." He turned away.

"That, or you don't want to lose the numbers you have taking us down."

Weiss sighed, produced his swords, and demonstrated why they had revolver grips by shooting the nearest Deepground soldier. He walked up and down the line, placing the barrel against the back of the heads of his own troops until his guns clicked empty. None of the victims moved a muscle until they fell at his feet.

When Weiss started to reload, the SOLDIER 1st held up a hand. "You have made your point, Weiss."

"So quickly? My, you will not last long here with stomachs so delicate as that. But I have other business to attend to." And he walked away. Gradually, the rest of the DG soldiers also chose to leave, and the SOLDIERs settled back where they were, wary of some trick.

"So…what now, boss?" a SOLDIER named Irene asked eventually. The SOLDIER 1st –they hadn't been introduced, but his name was Sergei, if Gaspar remembered correctly, lay back and closed his eyes.

"You heard the man. We're free to do as we wish. He doesn't care about us."

"Are you sure?"

"He doesn't need to bluff. I can't take him, his people are so loyal they'll let him shoot them in the face. We aren't important. The battle was won when we sealed that gate, there's nothing else we can achieve."

He paused. "I led you all into this cage. You performed beyond my expectations and we won. You have no further obligations to me, Shinra, or SOLDIER. So if you want to band together, we may. Or you can carve out your own path. I leave the decision entirely in your hands. Regardless, I'm proud of you all."

There was silence. If he had been trying to appeal to SOLDIER honour, nobody seemed to have taken the bait.

"What is this place?" Gaspar asked eventually.

Sergei didn't look up. "I have no idea. Heidegger handed me the mission personally, got me to throw together whoever I could to stop something in the basement from getting out. I was expecting a couple dozen experiments, not an army. I have no idea of their numbers, or capabilities, or why the hell they have so many attack helicopters. That Weiss guy is at least a high tier first, and I dunno what the hell that swirly black stuff is but I don't like it none. We can try carve a path and be ground down, or we can try to eke out some existence here, unless of course that Meteor solves the problem in a couple of weeks time."

Well, that was a cheering thought. They had been condemned to spend their last remnants of their lives dying in the dark for a completely pointless attempt to keep an army from escaping into a Planet that was doomed anyway, throwing dozens of skilled fighters away at a time they were desperately needed on the world above.

The SOLDIERs were frozen, considering their options, but there was a stir when Gaspar stood.

"You've made your decision, then?" Sergei said, without condemnation.

"I will never follow blindly again." Gaspar said, and walked away without looking back. He had been prepared to die for Shinra, but not to be entombed by them.

* * *

 _ **Please are not compulsory.**_


End file.
